The folder you hold in your hand is a code on images and messages
relating to the Third World. It is addressed to European
non‑governmental organisations who are actors or partners in the
global development process. Hopefully it will inspire a debate on
images and messages and encourage European NGOs to examine their own
materials.

For all European NGOs it should serve as a challenge
and as a guide in their work.

The code was adopted by the 1989 General Assembly of the Liaison
Committee of Development NGOs to the European Communities.

It is now up to you to use it.

PREAMBLE

Over the last ten years, the European public has been regularly
inundated with emotive images and messages relating to disaster
situations in certain Third World countries. The public has been
required to assimilate diverse interpretations of these situations
and been urged to help those peoples in difficulty, primarily on the
grounds of charity. Although campaigns of this nature have
undeniably saved thousands of lives, they have also shaped the
public's image of the Third World, of its problems and possible
solutions and relations with Third World countries. The combination
of emotionally charged images and catchy slogans does make for good
cinema, television and posters but recourse to sensationalism in
order to attract the public's attention can mean that the less
spectacular fundamentals of an issue are overlooked and the positive
elements obscured.

This phenomenon has become a determining factor in future
collaboration between Europe and the Third World. The images and
messages projected of the Third World by the media or NGOs
themselves can undermine the work of development organisations for
the quality of development co‑operation and solidarity with the
Third World is dependent upon the the of images and messages used by
NGOs in their public awareness raising activities.

Detailed research carried out by several European and African NGOs
within the framework of the "Images of Africa" project and a recent
survey cofinanced by the Commission of the European Communities on
"Europeans and Development Aid in 1987" reveal widespread
misunderstanding of the situation in the Third World. For the
majority of Europeans, the Third World is a supplier of raw
materials (63 %) and provides an outlet for European products (59
%). One European in two believes our relations with the Third World
are based on the Third World's need for aid from the rich countries.
The survey also shows that the European public takes a consistent
interest in the information supplied by the media on the Third
World.

A Code of Conduct relating to the images and
messages projected of the Third World is, therefore, essential.

INTRODUCTION

Objectives of
Development Education

The term "Development Education" is open to many, and often
ambiguous interpretations because of the range of issues concerned.
One's definition of the term is determined by one's view of
develop­ment, one's analysis of social change and one's ideological
and philosophical convictions. Although there may be no single
definition of the term development education, its various forms
share certain underlying objectives which should be recalled when
producing images and messages for the public, namely:

* to promote an awareness of the problems related to
development: causes and solutions, interdependence and reciprocity
for increased mutual understanding;

* to stimulate participation in the debate to support
appropriate political, economic and cultural co-operation;

* to strengthen solidarity between peoples through
increased mutual understanding;

* to increase the commitment of NGOs, governments and the EC to
structural change in favour of the underprivileged.

To succeed in the above development education, its objectives and
their attainment, should be an integral part of the tasks laid down
in the statutes of all development agencies.

General
objectives of the Code of Conduct

* This Code is both a challenge and a guide for
European NGOs. Its aim is to encourage NGOs to examine the material
they produce on the Third World and to be especially attentive to
images that over‑simplify or concentrate on the apocalyptic or
idyllic aspects of life.

* It invites NGOs engaged in fund raising activities to
re-examine their appeals to the public.

* It serves as a reference for NGOs working to strengthen the
solidarity, cohesion and force of the NGO movement.

* It is recommended that the European Commission take this
Code of Conduct into account in its work with European NGOs.

NGOs and Fund Raising

Several systems of fund raising are used by Northern NGOs. These
include large scale annual appeals, thematic campaigns or emergency
aid campaigns. The means applied can involve mailings to regular
donors, the production of posters or the holding of sales (books,
cards, crafts, background material, etc.).

A lot of images and messages are produced by NGOs during these fund
raising activities and the type used are determined by the
particular viewpoint of the NGO concerned.

Each NGO must decide on the best system to adopt whilst ensuring
that the methods applied and the messages sent out by the NGOs, its
partners and its sponsors do not present an image of dependency or
"hand‑outs".

We, development NGOs established in the member states of the
European Union representing a variety of humanitarian non‑profit
making associati­ons engaged in activities to support the
development process in the South and in the North, adopt this Code
of Conduct as a guide in our daily work in order to improve the
images projected by the North of the South.

This Code
calls on European NGOs to:

* Examine their work and review their working methods so
as to put an end to the old notions of "emotional shock" and
disaster relief and to ensure the right kind of development
education is undertaken ;

* Promote greater unity among NGOs and other social
movements to enable an improved distribution of information;

* Undertake to examine the content of the messages sent
out in disaster appeals to ensure these do not undermine the work of
development education which calls for long term response;

* Provide adequate training for members of staff who are
responsible for producing information material and seek specialists
to advise them in their work;

* Above all, ensure that the viewpoint of the South is
taken into account when producing images and messages.

If international development co‑operation is based on the principles
of solidarity and the sharing of resources, then the participation
of our Southern partners in public awareness raising activities is
essential for the correct projection of images and messages. In this
day and age we can no longer speak about the Third World and project
images thereof without previous consultation.

This is not an easy task as the communications, possibilities vary
significantly from one developing country to another, and from NGO
to NGO. Communication is hindered in some places by the remains of
the colonial system or the effects of control of the international
communications system: the traditional media either give no coverage
of the South or they do so from a Northern perspective.

NGOs should
work towards:

* guaranteeing the Third World right of access to the
major means of communication in the North;

* guaranteeing the circulation of Southern cultural products
in the North, beyond the traditional market outlets;

* promoting local and autonomous cultural production;

* facilitating further the movement of people in both
directions. To ask Southern visitors for their opinions on Western
society and to share their knowledge and experience.

True solidarity is not a one‑ way process.
Is it not arrogant to wish to resolve single‑handedly the
development problems of the South when our own society is itself
suffering from widespread development problems?

RECOMMENDATION

In the light of the
above, European NGOs will undertake to review their development
education material and the content of the messages produced.
Messages should aim to improve the public's understanding of:

* the realities and complexities of the countries of the
Third World in their historical context;

* the obstacles posed to development;

* the diversity of situations in these countries;

* the efforts being made in the South itself;

* and the progress made.

PRACTICAL GUIDELINES

1. Avoid catastrophic or idyllic images which appeal
to charity and lead to a clear conscience rather than a
consideration of the root problems; 2. All people must be presented as human beings and
sufficient informati­on provided as to their social, cultural arid
economic environment so that their cultural identity and
dignity are preserved. Culture should be presented as an
integral part of development in the South; 3. Accounts given by the people concerned should be
presented rather than the interpretations of a third party; 4. People's ability to take responsibility for
themselves must be highlight­ed; 5. A message should be formulated in such a way that
generalisations are avoided in the minds of the public;

6. The internal and external obstacles to
development should be clearly shown;

7. Interdependence and joint responsibility
in underdevelopment should be emphasised;

8. The causes of poverty (political, structural or
natural) should be apparent in a message in order to enable the
public to become aware of the history and real situation in the
Third World, and the structural foundations of these countries
before colonisation. It is the situation today, coupled with a
knowledge of the past, which should be the starting point for
examining ways in which extreme poverty and oppression can be
eliminated. Power struggles and vested interests should be exposed
and oppression and injustice denoun­ced;

10. The image of our Third World partners as dependent, poor
and powerless is most often applied to woman who are
invariably portrayed as dependent victims, or worse still, simply do
not figure in the picture. An improvement in the images used in
educational material on the Third World evidently requires a
positive change in the images projected of Southern women;

11.Southern partners should be consulted in the
formulation of all messages;

12. If an NGO calls on the services of other partners
(institutions, organi­sations or private companies) for a fund
raising activity, it should ensure that the recommendations of this
Code are respected by all parties. Reference should be made to the
Code in the sponsoring contract(s) between the NGO and its
partner(s).

CONCLUSION

The information in our daily news too often presents the Third World
in a way that is incomplete and biased ‑ starving people portrayed
as the helpless victims of their own fate. This fatalistic approach
can be overcome with the provision of more realistic and more
complete information, thereby increasing awareness of the
intrinsic value. of all civilisations, of the limitations of our own
society and of the need for a more universal development:
which respects justice, peace and the environment. It is the duty of
NGOs to provide the public with truthful and objective information
which respects not only the human dignity of the people in question
but the intelligence of the public at large.

This Code was adopted by the General Assembly of
European NG0s meeeting in Brussels in April 1989. The Liaison
Committee's Development Education Working Group was called upon to
formulate a strategy for its implementation and follow‑up.

NGDO-EU Liaison Committee

GEDRAGSCODE
"Images and messages"van het Liaison Committee of Development NGO's to the European Communities